England’s progress to a first ever major tournament final on foreign soil at Euro 2024 is the culmination of a decade of work on a player development programme that has turned perennial underachievers into serial contenders. Ending a 58-year wait to win a major trophy at senior men’s international level is the final hurdle Gareth Southgate’s men face in Sunday’s final against Spain after a run of success at youth level and in the women’s game. Just months after the Three Lions were knocked out of the 2014 World Cup with one game remaining in the group stage, Southgate – then in his role as under-21 manager – appeared alongside England’s Football Association technical director Dan Ashworth.
They presented a plan called 'England DNA', which aimed to combine the passion that English football is known for with improved technique and a stronger mentality to cope with the pressure of major tournaments.
“One of our mantras is: 'The only thing that changes is the size of the shirt',” said Ashworth, who was recently appointed Manchester United's sporting director after successful spells at Brighton and Newcastle.
“So as they go through the player pathway, from an under-15 boy or girl through to seniors, we have some consistent messages for them.
“When everyone is on the same page and everyone believes in what you're trying to do, it can be so much more powerful.”
The results have since spoken for themselves at every level.
Many of Southgate's squad in Germany have already won tournaments at youth level.
Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer were part of the team that beat Spain in the final 12 months ago to win the European Under-21 Championship for England for the first time in 39 years.
Ezri Konsa won the 2017 U-20 World Cup, while Phil Foden won the player of the tournament award that same year, along with Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher, to win the U-17 World Cup.
England women won their first major tournament on home soil at Euro 2022 and reached the World Cup final last year.
“As a footballing nation, we have long been defined by our passion, fighting spirit and commitment,” Ashworth said at the time.
“While we want to retain certain aspects of these characteristics, we do not want to be defined solely by these characteristics.”
The combination of an old-fashioned never-give-up mentality and players with a higher technical level has taken England on a rollercoaster ride to the final of Euro 2024.
Southgate was seen as one of the favourites before the tournament but admitted expectations were high as his team struggled through the group stage, scoring just two goals in three games.
They then needed late comebacks and individual moments of brilliance from Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka to stay alive and beat lower-ranked opponents in Slovakia and Switzerland to reach the last four.
But in the match against Dortmund, England's decade of planning was rewarded with a famous 2-1 semi-final victory.
“I can imagine it will be a long time before an English team ever has 60 percent possession against a team from the Netherlands. So it shows the more modern English way,” said a beaming Southgate afterwards.
The ultimate test awaits us against a team like Spain, who have beaten all previous teams including Germany and France at the heavier end of the table.
England have come close to winning a number of times before under Southgate.
They exceeded all expectations and reached the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup, but in the final of Euro 2020 on home soil they missed on penalties against Italy.
There was even more heartache in Qatar two years ago when Harry Kane missed a late penalty against France, leading to a 2-1 quarter-final defeat.
But that experience has put them in a better position than ever before to become European champions for the first time.
“We're going into the knockout games more relaxed because the first time we did it in Russia we hadn't won a knockout game for 10 years,” Southgate added.
“We didn't have the experience. Quarter-finals, semi-finals, we've played a lot of those games now.
“The last final was the first European Championship final I ever reached. If I did something wrong, I apologize for it. I will try to do better this week.”
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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